Nostalgia
by ClementineTWDG
Summary: "No Matter How Hard You Try, You Can't Escape Your Past." ... Clementine visits some places she all to familiar with. It takes a toll on her. Can Kenny, Luke, or even AJ help her? In progress. ... Clementine and Luke brother/sister relatonship.


The road had been long and treacherous. Each step made Clementine feel more and more exhausted by the mile. Unable to stand at points. But no matter how many times she had slept, no matter how many times she's rested, she's been tired.

And she will always be tired.

Shes been tired. Tired of this sick, rotten, fucked up world that she now lives in.

Shes been tired since Lee died. Since this whole fucking thing started.

So, she has a lot of sleep to catch up on.

...Someday.

They walked along the dirtied, aging asphalt of the road long ago seen swarming with cars. Always a traffic nest, full of civilians, pedestrians, drivers, vehicles...

But now no longer.

How did they get back here? Of all places?

...

Georgia?

Luke and Kenny were a couple of feet ahead of her, carrying AJ and the bags of supplies. Their _only_ supplies, if you wanna be that way, But it was still worth it. As long as it kept them alive. Kept them going.

And she will never stop trying. For... for Lee. Its what he would have wanted.

All those months back, when Wellington rejected them, they thought it was over. They thought they were done for. _She_ personally thought that... That was it. And she was ready to give up at one point. But she remembered. And Clementine convinced them to go on. It was hard, but the hope that little AJ would grow up in a world less... Terrible, was to much to bear. Clementine wanted to give AJ the childhood that had been violently taken from her that horrible, fateful day. She hoped he would keep his childish innocence.

Because it was too late to save hers.

"Where are we now, Kenny?" She questioned, catching up. Little one-year-old AJ giggled in Kennys arms, and reached out to touch Clementine. She smiled down at him, reaching over towards him, and let him grab hold of her finger. Kenny watched and grinned. Luke glanced over his shoulder in amusement.

"Were in Atlanta, kiddo." Luke answered.

Clementine stopped walking. Staring past Luke. Kenny glared in annoyance at Luke.

"Dammit, Luke. Really?! We weren't supposed to fucking tell her that!"

Luke looked confused. And he nervously turned back to Clementine. He followed her gaze to see that part of the metal shoulder on the side of the road was missing, and bent at an angle as if something large had gone clean through.

He felt something brush past him, and he realized it was Clementine. Sprinting towards the broken metallic structure. She stumbled and skid her knee, but that didn't stop her. She stood right back up and kept running.

"... Clementine?!" Kenny called, confused.

When she reached the edge of the road, she stared down the hill in amazement.

The sloped, grassy hill was overgrown, but if you were to look closely, you could faintly see tire marks indented in the hill, undisturbed and covered only by the uncut grass.

And at the bottom of the hill, lay a police car.

It couldn't be...

Someone grabbed her arm.

"Clem!" Luke said, concern edged his voice.

Clementine didn't realize how loud she was breathing, or how wide her eyes were. She could feel herself shaking as the memories came back. Like waves on a beach, they hit her. Over and over.

Lee... Mom... Dad... Sandra...

Home.

She brushed Luke's hand away, and raced down the hill.

"Clementine!" Luke yelled.

She didn't answer.

She had to see... She had to see...

She ran past the remnants of what looked to be a dead police officer. But by now, the corpse had rotted away, leaving nothing but a skeloton draped in a Atlanta police uniform. Which was also torn and dirtied to hell. Either he had decomposed, or he was stripped of all meat by hungry walkers...

But Clementine ran right past it. Past trees, over small hills. She stumbled multiple times, and fell on other occasions. But it wasn't stopping her. Never. Not yet...

She caught sight of the fence, and she slowed to halt. Barely walking any more forward.

she heard Luke and Kenny running after her, but she paid it no heed.

The fence...

she adverted her eyes to look up a little.

the tree house...

Luke came bounding in beside her, glancing around for any of walkers.

"Clem! Why the hell did ya..."

He paused.

falling behind, Kenny came down the hill with a protesting AJ in his arms.

"what the hell was that all about?!"

Clementine ignored the both of them.

She inched towards the fence, listening. When she reached it, she jumped and peaked over it.

No walkers.

She placed her hands on the top of the decaying fence, before finding a good foot hold for her right foot. Then, she used all her upper body strength to heave and swing her left leg over. Luke was having a seven-second dial-up. He lunged forward to try to grab her foot, but she was already over.

"Dammit, Clem!" he cursed in frustration and annoyance.

She landed on her feet and turned, taking in everything.

There was her treehouse, the pool, her tea set, her house.

Here she was.

...Home.

...

Clementine couldn't help but stare.

Everything was as she left it, all those months ago, when Lee had found her.

Her heart ached at the thought of Lee. She remembered when she first saw him, in this same area.

She ran her fingers along the fence, savoring the feeling. Remembering those summer days when it was just her and her family, running circles around her yard, holding her hand out so it touched the fence all the way around. She smiled as she remembered all the times she got splinters, and all the times her mom would lightly scold her as she removed the small slivers of wood. Saying the same thing. "When will you ever learn?"

She stepped away from the fence and moved towards her pool. Sadly, it was completely empty. Buts it's not like anyone would be swimming in the apocalypse, huh?

Luke had just climbed over the fence, and was taking AJ from Kenny so he could follow in suit. As Kenny grumbled and cursed, Luke turned to Clem.

"Clem? Why the fuck did you run?! We gotta get outta here! You scared the living shit out of me! Lets just-OW! What the fuck?!"

Kenny stomped on Luke's foot to shut him up, before giving him the death glare.

"Shut the fuck up, Luke. Now is not the time."

Clementine sat on the pools edge. Kicking her feet just as she did when she was younger. Pretending that there was water in the pool, or at least trying to. She seemed to have lost her imagination long ago.

Luke lowered his eyes in realization.

"Luke, give her a bit." Kenny said, finally over the fence. "And... Let her talk. If she wants to tell you about something, just listen. Okay?"

Luke nodded in acknowledgement.

Clementine stood and brushed herself off. The twelve-year-old than turned to her tree house.

Man, did she hate that thing. But seeing it now was just so... surreal. So unbelievable.

she stared at the ground as she approached the wooden structure.

Moss coated the poor thing. Mother Nature had come to claim what was rightfully hers. Clementine stared up into the front door.

she put her hand cautiously onto the rope ladder, just to have it crumble and break off the tree in her hand.

"Mom always said this would come off someday." Clem whispered fondly, before tossing the aging rope to the ground.

As she backed up, something plastic broke underneath her feet. She lifted her foot to see the remnants of a plastic tea cup scattered to and fro. She bent down a searched through the overgrown grass. Eventually finding the one last intact cup. She held it sadly. Memories came back...

_"To the hostess!"_

_CLINK!_

_Clementine and Sandra sat side by side on a picnic blanket in the middle of summer. Sunlight drifted through the leaves of the tree, and found its way around the duo. Clementine giggled as she took an imaginary sip from her plastic cup, which had a single chip in the brim. Sandra followed in suit._

_"This tea is quite delicious, madam." Sandra said, in her best English accent._

_"thanks you, Sandra." Clementine snickered, unable to hold it back._

_Sandra grinned and winked at Clementine, before setting her cup down. She lay on her back and stared at the clouds flying by above._

_Clementine put her cup beside Sandra's, before scooting over and relaxing on her back next to Sandra. She played with her feet as she watched the pretty fluff balls fly along the sky._

_"Hey, that one looks like Bubbles!" Clementines pointed out, gesturing with her finger to a large, hamster-shaped cloud. Sandra glanced at it, before laughing in agreement._

_"you're right, Clem, it does." Sandra smiled. She pointed to another cloud. "That one looks like your tree house."_

_Clementine laughed as she saw the resemblance, picturing what it would be like to sit in it, all the way up there. In the clouds._

_The two continued to that for quite a long time. Pointing out the strangest formations they could spot, before Sandra sat up. Stretching her back._

_"C'mon, it's getting late, Clementine. Let's go inside and watch a movie together, how about it?" _

_Clementine leapt to her feet in excitement. But there was still a look of faint disappointment in her golden eyes._

_Sandra smiled. "Don't worry, we'll do this again tommorow, first thing in the morning. How about that?"_

_Clementne nodded._

_"Let's go, then." _

_She took hold of Clementins hand and they went back towards the house. Clementine tossed that one cup behind her, and it unknowingly rolled behind the tree. Where Clementine would never see it again._

_until this point._

Clementine ran her fingers over the chipped brim. Murmuring sadly. before slipping it into her pocket.

Kenny and Luke just watched. AJ complained in Kennys arms

"It's been a while since I've seen her innocent side." Luke commented, leaning against the fence with Kenny.

Kenny raised an eyebrow.

"and what do you mean by that?"

Luke shrugged. "Never mind... I mean, I never knew she could be this... , is that the right word?"

Kenny nodded in response, giving Luke an awkward look, before turning his attention back to Clementine.

She was over by the porch now. Feeling the wooden side of it, she stepped up on to the platform.

Luke and Kenny followed a few feet behind. Keeping a lookout for walkers.

Clementine breathed in, putting her palm on the handle of her sliding glass door.

Just looking up, and seeing the inside, made her tear up slightly. She slowly opened the door.

Sandras rotting corpse still lay on the floor. Maggots and flys swarmed around and on her. You couldn't even guess it was a walker.

Clementine coughed at the terrible smell that hit her senses. Crinkling her nose.

She bent down to see that one of Sandras hands was still intact, and it was in an open position.

Clementine reached into her pocket and pulled out the chipped teacup, before putting it into Sandras hand. Then she stood.

"I dont care how cheesy this is." She whispered. "I just think she she should... Have it, you know?" She added to no one in particular.

Clementine then stood, turning around to run smack into her counter. Mumbling and rubbing her arms, she saw that her colorbook was still there. Opened to the same page that she had left it more than three years ago. She smiled at it, seeing how it was still unfinished.

And it may always be... unfinished.

Turning, she saw her handprints on the far wall. And she raced over to them in excitement. Eager to see them better.

Clementine remembered how many times her mother would tell her 'just think how cool your kids will think this is when they get to see how little your hands were.'

She sighed, and placed her hands over the handprints. Seeing the large difference. Now, her hands covered the petite figures.

She laughed to herself silently and pulled away.

she turned, and to her embarrassment, Luke and Kenny were grinning in amusement at her childish actions. She stared down at her feet. By out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a small, barely visible light flashing. Like any moment it could die out.

Clementine slowly lifted her gaze, and settled on the far table, where the answering machine was. It flickered, but didn't make a sound. She edged over to it.

_Three saved messages. _Was flickering on the screen.

"still has electric power..."

She never learned how this worked, her mom had told her that she would teach her someday.

along with countless of other things that her mom will never get to do with her.

She pressed a random button. Hoping for the best.

And she heard them.

Those three messages.

_"Hey, Sandra! This is Diana, were still in Savannah. Uh, Ed had a little 'incident' with some crazy guy near the hotel, so we're at the hospital having it checked out. Thank you SO much for taking care of Clementine, and I promise we'll be back home before your spring break."_

Clementines breathe was cut short At the sound of her mothers voice. Happy and well. She suppressed tears the best she could, but this... This was to much. She drew in shaky breathes.

_"Oh my god, finally! I don't if you've been trying to reach us, a-all the calls are getting dropped. They're are not letting us leave, and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please just- leave the city and take Clementine with you back to Mariata, I've got to get back to the hospital... Please let me know that your safe!"_

Clementine wiped her eyes, covering her mouth in an attempt to not cry. But it was coming. She could not hold it. Tears started spilling out and down her cheeks.

_"Clementine, baby? If you can hear this, call the police. That's 9-1-1... We love you... We love you... We love y-"_

_Beep._

_"would you like to hear these messages again?"_

_not really..._

"I-I love you to... Mom." She whimpered.

Clementine broke down. Sinking against the table.

she never knew. Lee never told her this.

It hurt. A lot. She hadn't cried like this since... Since Lee died.

She knew they were gone... She had seen it with her own eyes, for Christs sake!

But this did more than confirm it.

it... It...

Luke and Kenny raced over next to her to comfort her. Kenny stood behind as Luke rubbed circles in her back. Trying his best to help. She was leaning on the table with her hands covering her eyes. She was shaking.

"shit, Clementine, I'm so, so sorry." Luke said sympathetically.

"You shouldn't have heard that." Kenny added.

Then, out of the blue, Clementine turned and hugged Luke. She was embarrassed about how weak she may look, but she didn't care. She wept into Luke's shirt. Staining it. Luke was surprised, before awkwardly patting her back. She dug her nails into his skins little, but Luke didn't mind one bit.

"it's okay, Clem..." He soothed.

And you know what?

She believed him.

After a few more moments, Clementine pulled away, embarrassed. Tears were still a evident in her gaze.

"I-I'm sorry, guys." She said.

Kenny smiled and gave her a hug.

"it's alright, darlin', you ain't got nothin to apologize for."

Clementine tried to smile, but out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted a picture. It was on the table next to the phone.

She pulled away from the two, reaching over to pick it up.

It was the photo of... her family.

She felt a new wave of sadness hit her, but no tears came. Her hands shook as she stared at the aging photograph, depicting a smiling family of three. Which just happened to be, or was, HER family.

It had been more than three years since she's seen her parents faces, and now, it was beyond extraordinary.

She ran her fingers over the broken cover, before reaching in and pulling the photograph out. She tossed the frame aside, staring in to the comforting eyes of her mother and the strong, intimidating eyes of her father.

even though showing obvious signs of age by fading, Clementine was determined not to lose this one, last reminder of her past life. She lifted her hat and slipped the photograph underneath. Right next to Lees picture. After making sure it was safe and secure, She then put her hat back on.

Luke and Kenny grinned.

**A/N Thank you guys! This is just another something special that was bothering me for a while. Please review!**


End file.
